The history of Orange, its technology and its people

Orange’s DNA has developed around innovations that connect people to meet the needs of a changing world. This forms a unique history, which few telecom operators can claim today. From the early days of optical telegraphy to the height of 5G, here’s a look back at more than a century of evolutions and revolutions.

 

18

76

On 14 February, Alexander Graham Bell filed the first telephone patent. 

Until the end of the eighteenth century, information could only travel as fast as a messenger on horseback.   
In 1794, Claude Chappe invented a faster communication system through optical telegraphy: a line of stations that could relay coded messages via visual signals. In 1877, Émile Baudot proposed a more sophisticated telegraph code. Nineteen years later, Guglielmo Marconi sent the first radio message. In the meantime, however, in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell pulled off a revolution within the revolution, by converting sound waves into an electric current: the telephone was born.

Premier message télégraphique transmis sur la ligne Lille-Paris : naissance de la télégraphie optique de Chappe
Guglielmo Marconi réalise les premières transmissions en télégraphie sans fil (TSF)
Photo d'opératrices

18

79

First telephone subscribers in France. First telephone directories issued.

 

The history of the telephone in France began in 1879 with the first subscribers and publication of the first directories. A new milestone in France was reached in 1913 : two subscribers talked through an automatic telephone exchange for the first time in Nice without any operator assistance, marking the beginning of the end for switchboard operators and broadening access to automated telephone communications. 

Opératrices Téléphonique
Illustration d'un téléphone rétro

1891

First submarine and telephone cable between France and England.

Illustration d'un Bateau

Submarine telephone cables vessels
of sovereignty

 

Submarine telephone cables have played a key role in the telecoms revolution since they first linked France to England in 1891 and France to the United States in 1959. The arrival of optical fiber in 1988 with the TAT 8 increased the capacity to 40,000 simultaneous communications. In 2001, the network performance was so good it enabled a remote surgical operation to take place between a surgeon in New York and patient in Strasbourg. With its heritage dating back to the nineteenth century, Orange is one of the few operators who has laid cables since the start. Of our fleet of seven vessels (i.e. 15% of the world's fleet), the most recent is the Sophie Germain, which was launched in 2024. With 450,000 km of cables laid (including 263,000 of our own), Orange plays a highly strategic role, with 99% of the world's web traffic passing through this infrastructure.

Illustration représentant les femmes du téléphone

19

29

Creation of the Ministry of Postal, Telegraph and Telephone (Decree of 3 November 1929).

From a public ministry to a private company, the history of France Télécom / Orange marks a journey towards open competition. In 1929, the Ministry of PTT was created, followed in 1946 by the Department of Telecommunications (DGT), which became France Télécom in 1988, followed by the status of an independent operator in 1990. Six years later, it was converted into a public limited company with the government as the sole shareholder. The local loop was unbundled and opened to competition in 2001. Finally, the French government ceased to be the majority shareholder in 2004, marking a decisive step towards privatization.

Photo d'une borne de secours
Illustration Téléphone fixe

1944

Creation of CNET (Centre national d’études des télécommunications – French telecommunications research center), responsible for telecoms R&D and the origin of Orange Labs.

Centre national d’études des télécommunications (CNET)

CNET, spearheading French innovation

 

Established at the end of the Second World War to repair the telecommunications and telegraphy network in France, CNET was the headquarters for some of France’s greatest innovations in the field. In 1962, a year after the laser was invented, CNET teams received the first TV images from the American satellite TELSTAR 1. Three years later, engineers developed the first time-division switching protocol (with the full launch in 1971) and began to test fiber optic transmissions . Innovation is at the heart of Orange’s DNA, which went on to set up a global research and development network under the “Orange Labs” name in 2007.

19

70

Development of the first fiber optics.

Fibre optique
Photo d'une cabine téléphonique

19

75

The 7th socioeconomic development plan (VIIe Plan) made telephony a national priority

 

The expansion of the telephone network in France was marked by a sharp acceleration in use. In 1975, the “telephone catch-up plan” was introduced to install 14 million lines in 7 years. By 1984, 88% of French households had a telephone installed and the first telephone boxes were equipped with smart card readers. The following  year, the telephone numbering system was increased to 8 digits, then to 10 digits in 1996, to address the rapidly increasing use of the telephone as an essential communication tool.

Photo d'une télécarte
Illustration numérotation à 10 chiffres

1982

Launch of Minitel in France.

Photo d'un minitel et d'un téléphone fixe

Minitel, the Internet before its time

 

A screen, a keyboard, and easy access to a multitude of services... the Mintel launched in 1982 as a precursor to the internet. The device was based on a different standard: the Transpac network, which had been created for businesses four years earlier. Various tests, including the first electronic directory in Saint Malo and Videotex Velizy, convinced the public authorities there was a market for this type of device but it was only with the launch of 3615 in 1984 that the Minitel really took off. By the beginning of the 1990s, 6.5 million households had one, but development on the World Wide Web in 1989 meant Mintel was on borrowed time, even though it outlasted all expectations. Two million people were still using it in 2010 before it was finally discontinued two years later. 

19

84

Launch of Télécom 1A, the first French communications satellite.

Photo d'un satellite
Photo du panneau indiquant Esplanade du Général De Gaulle

19

91

Launch of the Bi-Bop, a wireless pocket phone.

Weighing 180 grams and 16 centimeters long, the Bi-Bop launched on the French market  in 1991. The Radiocom 2000 predated it and was a huge success among business professionals, but it was confined to cars and weighed nearly 3 kilos. The Bi-Bop enabled people to talk to each other when standing next to a receiver and marked an important step towards mobile communications in France, with nearly 300,000 subscribers at its peak. The year before, Alphapage was developed to send messages of 40 to 60 characters, predating paging and SMS. But neither service survived the evolution of the GSM standard and the appearance of mobile phones that we know today. 

Illustration de 2 personnes qui discutent
Photo d'un Alphapage
Photo de téléphones portables à antennes des années 90

19

92

Launch of Itinéris, a radiotelephone service using the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) standard.

The launch of Itinéris in 1992 marked another technological innovation. The same year, an engineer from Sema Group sent the first text message. In 1991, the first GSM communication on the public network and the opening of ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) between France and the United Kingdom accelerated the entry into the mobile era. Five years later, Itinéris had more than one million subscribers out of the country’s 1.6 million. In 1997, France Télécom launched OLA, the first consumer plan with a handset subsidized by an operator, further accelerating the service’s growth.

Photo JO 1992
Photo d'un Nokia 8210

19

94

Launch of Orange in the United Kingdom, which revolutionizes the market, in particular with per-second billing.

Photo d'un big ben

19

95

Opening of the consumer radio paging service: Tatoo.

Photo d'un tatoo
Logo Wanadoo

19

96

Launch of Wanadoo: internet for all.

Wanadoo, a subsidiary of France Télécom, broadened access to the internet to consumers in 1996. France Télécom launched ADSL in 1999 to offer the French a fixed broadband solution, further accelerating adoption. Wanadoo went on to offer innovative services such as webmail, file downloads, and a software library with media rights, the ancestor of the App Stores.

Illustration d'un homme qui marche
Logo France Telecom et orange

20

00

Acquisition of the mobile phone operator Orange, a brand created in 1994.

France Télécom anticipated the mobile revolution by acquiring the dynamic Orange brand in 2000 and then adopting it for its own mobile offers in 2001. The strategy paid off with the launch of the iPhone in 2007, marketed in France first exclusively by Orange. France Télécom adopted the Orange brand in 2013 for all activities, unifying its identity under a global brand synonymous with innovation and connectivity in the mobile age.

Illustration mains levées avec des téléphones
Photo d'un agent de terrain Orange de dos

20

03

Launch of Wi-Fi, wireless internet.


The first UMTS call took place in 2001. At the time, there was no talk of 3G, or third generation of wireless mobile telecommunications technology. With speeds ten times higher than the standards in force, 3G laid the path for unprecedented mobile growth, especially video. Orange World launched in 2003, further supporting mobile internet use. This multimedia offer, the first with a pan-European scope, offered a service portal, simplified rates, and a new range of devices.

 

Un agent de terrain en train d'intervenir sur une antenne
Illustration de la carte Europe en orange sur fond noir

Orange is the first operator in France to launch TV over ADSL, with the first TV set-top-box and TV over mobile.

From the first TV broadcast between London and Paris in 1953 to mobile TV, access to video content has also undergone a revolution. Orange launched a pioneering ADSL TV offer via a set-top box in 2003 along with TV over mobile. In 2004, Orange innovated again with “Orange World Video”, the first mobile TV application. These advances marked a new era of audiovisual entertainment, accessible anywhere and at any time.

femme devant un ordi en visio

20

04

Launch of IP telephony

Photo d'un casque avec un micro
Photo d'un groupe de personne

20

06

Orange became the single brand for mobile, TV, internet and digital services in our core markets.

 

2006 marked a major turning point for Orange when the company adopted Orange as a single brand for mobile, internet, television and digital services. At the same time, Orange launched fiber to the home in France, a major precursor to high-speed broadband. 2006 was therefore a pivotal year, symbolizing the convergence of services and Orange’s commitment to making the most cutting-edge tech widely available.

Orange Money : favoriser l'inclusion financière en Afrique

 

Orange created Orange Money in 2006 to enable people without access to a traditional bank account to pay for goods and services in Africa. This ambitious digital financial inclusion system was based on NFC technology to enable contactless money transactions from a mobile phone. After a successful launch in Côte d'Ivoire, Orange Money became a key partner across a large part of the African continent by establishing a global ecosystem of consumers, schools, national companies and merchants extend new payment services to as many people as possible.

Photo d'une femme faisant du vélo sur un pont, il y a des illustrations sur la photo comme par exemple une fusée et des planètes

20

12

4G launched in eight countries

With the rise of smartphones, mobile broadband access became crucial for users. Orange launched 4G in 2012 in France, Romania, Moldova, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, and Mauritius illustrating its commitment to innovation and cutting-edge technologies. By 2015, all Orange countries had launched 4G, confirming the Group’s leadership in deploying mobile broadband networks and its ambition to connect the world.

Photo de deux mains qui tiennent un téléphone

Orange took part in the official launch of Internet IPv6, enabling “the Internet of Things”.

Illustration des différents services orange, box, téléphonie, internet
Photo d'Orange Cyberdéfense

20

17

Inauguration of the Cyberdefense subsidiary.

In a hyper-connected world, cybersecurity is a crucial issue. Orange plays an essential role, demonstrating its commitment in 2017 through the launch of Orange Cyberdefense. With unique expertise as an operator and advisor to the public and private sector, Orange uses state-of-the-art tools to analyze threats and offer innovative protection solutions. In 2019, Orange became the European leader in cybersecurity through its ability to secure both data and infrastructure.

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24

Orange was the exclusive service provider responsible for transmitting live images during Paris 2024

For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, the Paris 2024 Olympic Organising Committee entrusted all connectivity to a single operator.  To meet this historic challenge, Orange relied on more than 30 years of know-how: in 1992, France Télécom brought the Albertville Olympics live to 2 billion viewers, and, after several technical partnerships in the world of football, the brand was the official provider of UEFA’s telecommunications services in 2016. Paris 2024 marked another important milestone: 5G enabled Orange to broadcast live from hundreds of cameras during competitions and ceremonies. Orange also supported the Paris committee by making it easier for the thousands of people who work behind the scenes to communicate easily and ensure the event’s success.

Photo d'un athlète en situation d'handicap en train de courir
Photo d'un homme dans une foule en train d'applaudir et de crier